4 ms·

Out of curiosity, how do dyslexic friendly fonts work? Are they easier for everyone, or is it a case of compensating dyslexia related deficits specifically?

gnicholas 5y ago
There are a couple popular dyslexic-friendly fonts, OpenDyslexic [1] and Dyslexie. [2] My understanding is that the first is free and the second is not. What they have in common is that both are quite heavy fonts (thick lines), and with a bit of extra kerning (space between letters). They are also designed to have 'b' and 'd' (and other mirror-image pairs) that do not look like mirror images. I have worked in this field for years, as the founder of BeeLine Reader. [3] We received a lot of requests to offer one of these fonts, and we've used OpenDyslexic for quite some time. I know some people really like it. At the same time, dyslexia researchers (especially those in the US) insist that dyslexia is not a visual condition, and that fonts cannot make a difference. I tend to believe that even if it is not an issue that is primarily visual, that doesn't meant that adjustments to how text is presented can't make things better. This seems to be the sense among (1) researchers outside the US, (2) individuals with dyslexia worldwide, and (3) many assistive technology or SPED workers in the US — despite what US-based researchers say. 1: https://opendyslexic.org/ https://opendyslexic.org/ 2: https://www.dyslexiefont.com/ https://www.dyslexiefont.com/ 3: https://www.beelinereader.com https://www.beelinereader.com
- Llamamoe 5y ago
  Do you have any other assistive technology examples other than beeline reader? That thing is absolutely fantastic, I love it.
  - gnicholas 5y ago
    You could check out Helperbird, which offers various readability tweaks. [1] Glad you like BeeLine — we've integrated with several HN/YC'ers, ranging from blogs [2] to mobile apps. [3] Please feel free to reach out (developer@beelinereader.com) if you're interested in working together. 1: https://www.helperbird.com/ https://www.helperbird.com/ 2: https://wildcardpeople.com/what-is-a-wildcard-person https://wildcardpeople.com/what-is-a-wildcard-person 3: https://insightbrowser.com/collections/reading https://insightbrowser.com/collections/reading

gnicholas 5y ago

There are a couple popular dyslexic-friendly fonts, OpenDyslexic [1] and Dyslexie. [2] My understanding is that the first is free and the second is not. What they have in common is that both are quite heavy fonts (thick lines), and with a bit of extra kerning (space between letters). They are also designed to have 'b' and 'd' (and other mirror-image pairs) that do not look like mirror images. I have worked in this field for years, as the founder of BeeLine Reader. [3] We received a lot of requests to offer one of these fonts, and we've used OpenDyslexic for quite some time. I know some people really like it. At the same time, dyslexia researchers (especially those in the US) insist that dyslexia is not a visual condition, and that fonts cannot make a difference. I tend to believe that even if it is not an issue that is primarily visual, that doesn't meant that adjustments to how text is presented can't make things better. This seems to be the sense among (1) researchers outside the US, (2) individuals with dyslexia worldwide, and (3) many assistive technology or SPED workers in the US — despite what US-based researchers say. 1: https://opendyslexic.org/ https://opendyslexic.org/ 2: https://www.dyslexiefont.com/ https://www.dyslexiefont.com/ 3: https://www.beelinereader.com https://www.beelinereader.com

Llamamoe 5y ago
Do you have any other assistive technology examples other than beeline reader? That thing is absolutely fantastic, I love it.
- gnicholas 5y ago
  You could check out Helperbird, which offers various readability tweaks. [1] Glad you like BeeLine — we've integrated with several HN/YC'ers, ranging from blogs [2] to mobile apps. [3] Please feel free to reach out (developer@beelinereader.com) if you're interested in working together. 1: https://www.helperbird.com/ https://www.helperbird.com/ 2: https://wildcardpeople.com/what-is-a-wildcard-person https://wildcardpeople.com/what-is-a-wildcard-person 3: https://insightbrowser.com/collections/reading https://insightbrowser.com/collections/reading